NOAA'S Coastal Ocean Program: Science for solutions
The year 1988 was not a good one for the coasts. Hundreds of dead and dying dolphins washed ashore from unknown causes; medical wastes, including syringes, appeared on New Jersey beaches; and many areas were too contaminated to permit shellfish harvesting or swimming. People responded to this visible evidence that the coast was in trouble. Many problems that draw attention that year were symptoms of longstanding patterns of human activities near the coast. And some, such as the pollution of beaches by sewage outflows, could be addressed by available technology and management decisions. Other were, and are, more complicated. The depletion of US fisheries continued, reaching crisis proportions in some regions, due to the inexact nature of stock assessments and the social and economic consequences of imposing restrictions. For other issues, such as the contamination of estuaries and coastal waters by toxics and nutrients, the sheer complexity of the problems frustrated managers looking for solutions. Congress responded by passing legislation to control ocean dumping and medical wastes. Looking at the broader set of coastal issues, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created the Coastal Ocean Program (COP) in 1989 to focus on NOAA and academic coastal ocean science efforts on emerging and longstanding problems.
- OSTI ID:
- 6775265
- Journal Information:
- Oceanus; (United States), Vol. 36:1; ISSN 0029-8182
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COASTAL WATERS
CONTAMINATION
ESTUARIES
SEAS
WATER POLLUTION
LEGISLATION
US NOAA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
SURFACE WATERS
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety